During prehistoric times, Woodland Indians made this area their home, and its ancient and continuing spiritual importance is reflected in the number of ancient cemeteries near the shore of White Bear Lake. In 1881, archaeologist Jacob Brower identified nine cemetery mounds in the township, but only one of these burial mounds remains. Like all cemeteries in Minnesota, this mound is protected by state law, and disturbing it is unlawful. By the middle of the nineteenth century, French-Canadian and European settlers began to take notice of what White Bear had to offer, and the land around the area's many lakes was settled for agricultural purposes. Dakota people, descendants of the mound-builders, and Ojibwe people used this area as part of their seasonal migratory pattern, spending time here in the late spring and early summer each year to harvest maple sap and fish the bountiful lakes.